“L Mansion”

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Via Pitchfork

Sic Alps, the emphatically lo-fi garage-psych duo of Mike Donovan and Matthew Hartman, quietly had kind of a big year in 2008, releasing twoalbums of almost equal quality in the span of just a few months. They might have shown up to the party a little early, though, since 2009 has, of course, become The Year that Scuzz Broke. No biggie, they're flexible. While Sic Alps know their way around a wall of noise better than almost any other band working in this format, they've apparently recognized the glut of similar sounds out there right now, and have gamely chosen a cleaner approach with "L Mansion", the title track of a new 7". Seemingly about the emotions surrounding a pregnancy scare ("She went to seek adoption, just to see what she'd gotten," Hartman rhymes), the song is a strummy acoustic affair most notable for its ease and tunefulness. There's a bounce to the track that belies its simple instrumentation, though, and when that piano interlude hits the backing ooh-ooh-oohs around the halfway point, it feels, for a moment, decidedly contagious. Far from the most complex thing they've ever done, but intriguing if only for how darnright pleasant it is.